“Making Provincial Administration Work in the North” by Austin Fernando

These days media often speak of conflicts between the center and provincial administration, especially between the Northern Provincial Council’s (NPC’s) Chief Minister (CM) / Members and the Governor of the Province. The CM had been known to me for some time as a gentle neighbor, Judge and the Governor as my subordinate and an “officer and gentleman.” Irrespective of their gentleness, now we hear of ‘official conflicts’ between them, much to the detriment of the NPC administration.

I must confess that the conflicting status has evidently seeped down to the administration too. This we observed when in Jaffna recently. As a retired public officer I cannot recollect such distanced and broken-down official relationship between the Government Representative (the Governor), political hierarchies (Provincial Councilors headed by the CM) and some administrators (headed by the Chief Secretary- CS). This does not speak well of all parties.

Via http://groundviews.org/2014/02/07/making-provincial-administration-work-in-the-north/

“Reconstructing the North and democratising Sri Lanka” by Ahilan Kadirgamar

Before getting into the main thrust of my argument, I want to be clear about the lost opportunity in post-war Sri Lanka. I am echoing here the words of the insightful Tamil intellectual Kethesh Loganathan, who critiqued the attempts to resolve the ethnic conflict during the first five decades after Independence, in his book Sri Lanka: Lost Opportunities. Tragically, the great opening that came with the end of the war has been squandered by the ruling Rajapaksa regime in the interest of consolidating power.

In the current situation, authoritarianism with centralised state power and militarisation characterises the state of affairs in the country. Militarisation is doubly oppressive in the war-torn North and East. There has been no serious movement towards a political solution. The reconstruction process has failed, particularly in relation to livelihoods, and a food security crisis is looming over the North.

Via http://himalmag.com/component/content/article/1-web-exclusive/5232-reconstructing-the-north.html

source: www.himalmag.com